


Down To Earth Reflections

by DarkenedHeart



Series: Loving Jack [2]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: "Cutesy", ...including Jack's heart., Budding Relationship?, Jack loves MacGyver, Kissing, M/M, Mac can fix a lot of things..., MacGyver loves Jack, Oh - The Angst!, Worried!Mac, insecure!jack, is this fluff?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 22:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8551405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkenedHeart/pseuds/DarkenedHeart
Summary: When Mac starts kissing Jack in earnest he gets a reaction he doesn't expect.With their relationship just beginning, Mac is worried he did something wrong to ruin it already.But what's the real problem? & why is Jack acting so strangely?(& Why is this Summary so bad?)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Because I wanted to write an Unsure!Jack and a Confident!Mac...I got this...Less confident, more Worried. (Oh, well!)  
> \--- - --- -- --- - ---

My Great Aunt once told me, "Love is fickle, love is blind, never leave your heart behind." 

I never understood what she meant and, to be honest, I still don't. 

But the point I think she was trying to make was, 'don't check your personal feelings at the door when starting a relationship with someone. What you feel matters just as much as what your partner was feeling.'

That or my Great Aunt was crazier than everyone in my family always said she was.

\--- - --- -- --- - ---

Mac was floating on clouds since Jack was released from the hospital. 

It didn't take long before Riley figured out their change in relationship from 'just friends' to 'something more'.

"Was expecting it sooner," the techie had said with a shrug.

Thornton only raised a brow at them an ordered the pair to, "Keep it off mission."

Bozer, on the other hand, was the most excited to learn the news.

"Man, oh, man am I glad you are over the hump and ready to get in the saddle again," Bozer smiled as he patted the two on the back. "Congratulations, my friends. Though, Jack, I gotta be honest. I knew Mac first, so if you hurt my boy, I'm gonna hafta mess you up. You understand, right?"

"Course I do, Boze," Jack gives the man a fist bump to seal the promise. "I ain't interested in ruining anything. The human heart is my specialty in the think tank."

 

So that was that. All was well with the world. Jack and Mac spent more and more time together. Asking questions even the closest friends didn't ask and holding hands under the blankets while watching movies together. Riley teased Jack at how 'cutesy' he was with Mac, but the agent just brushed her off with a sarcastic comments of his own.

 

Then, three weeks into their relationship, Mac kissed Jack, really kissed him, for the first time.

They were alone at Jack's place. "Inception" had just ended and Jack was still complaining about time lines. Mac kept staring at the man's lips as they moved and he couldn't hold back anymore; he dove for the other man's mouth.

Jack stopped talking and melted into the contact. Mac took that as permission to climb over the other man and sit in his lap. His heart rate spiked as his hands moved from Jack's neck to the inside of his shirt. The top two buttons were undone, leaving the blonde plenty of give to map out Jack's shoulders with the flat of his palms.

Mac deepens the kiss, pushing his tongue inside Jack's mouth to get a taste for the man as his hands move lower....

Jack pushes Mac back, his chest heaving as he stares at his boyfriend.

"What?" the blonde asks breathlessly. "Is there something wrong? Are you okay?"

"M'fine," Jack clears his throat as he looks away. He gets up, taking Mac with him, which excites his boyfriend, only to put him back down on the couch gently and walk out of the room.

Mac's brow furrows as he watches the other man leave.

The front door closes and Mac asks himself, "What did I do?"

Jack stays out for hours and Mac falls asleep on the couch right where he was placed waiting for him.

The blonde wakes the moment the front door opens. He recognizes the shuffle of the feet and the tempo of the breath, so he knows it's Jack without looking.

Mac keeps his eyes closed to feign sleep, but it doesn't matter. Jack goes straight for his bedroom and closes the door.

Mac's confusion grows.

The next day, Mac tries to bring it up but Jack refuses to answer any of his questions.

"Jack," Mac takes the man by the crook of his elbow. "You've got to talk to me. What's going on?"

"Nothing, Mac," Jack says, not looking at him. 

Their phones ring at the same time. It's Thornton. They have another mission.

"We are not done talking about this," Mac says, even though THEY haven't done any talking at all. It's all been one sided.

"There's nothing to talk about," Jack insists, taking the lead on the exit from the house.

 

Phoenix gets the spoiled frat boy back from his kidnappers and returns the whiney brat to his estranged father.

 

Jack is unusually quiet during the mission, further increasing Mac's worry while gaining the attention of his other two teammates.

"Dalton, a moment?" Thornton asks after the debrief. 

Reluctantly, Jack follows their boss to her office where they have a very quiet conversation about something neither Riley or Mac can overhear.

Jack eventually storms out of the room, ignoring Riley and Mac completely.

Mac turns to the woman staring after his boyfriend, "What did you two talk about?"

"Nothing," Thornton says simply. "He just sat there and I talked at him. I've never seen Jack act like that before."

Thornton turns cool, calculated eyes to Mac, "Did you two have a fight?"

"No," Mac is slightly offended the woman would think it, even though it was completely possible. "But I'll talk to him."

"Maybe he's just freaked out about this new thing he's got with you," Riley offers tentatively. The other two look at her strangely. "What? You can't believe that everyone in the world would be ready to just jump into a new relationship head first. Some people take time to warm up to it."

Mac nods while inwardly scolding himself for not thinking of that sooner.

"I'll see you guys later," he says absently as he chases after his boyfriend.

 

Mac finds Jack emptying out a clip in the gun range. The blonde hated guns. He knew that Jack knew he hated guns. So the only reason why Jack would be hiding out in a gun range was because he especially didn't want to talk to Mac.

'Well, too bad,' the blonde thinks as he purposely walks over to the other man. 

He taps Jack on the back and frowns when the man flinches. Jack puts down his weapon, then removes his safety equipment before leaning against the table with his arms crossed over his chest. The man's stance was practically screaming 'stay away from me' but Mac wasn't about to let that stop him.

"We need to talk," Mac states simply. He keeps his stare steady and focused on Jack as he adds. "Now. And this time, you're participating in the conversation."

Jack turns back to his weapon, hands already moving to put the ear protection back on. Mac snatches them from his hands and holds them out of reach.

"I mean it, Jack," the blonde tells his partner.

Jack sighs, nodding his head in resignation as he grabs up the weapon to drop in the 'to be cleaned' bin. He guides Mac to the top of the building.

After taking two steps out of the exit door, Jack turns to Mac with the same closed off expression he'd been sporting the entire mission.

Mac decides to go for the obvious question, "Do you really like me Jack? Or were you just pretending to make me feel better?"

Jack looks hurt by the question, his arms uncrossing automatically as he bites out, "Of course I like you, Mac! What sort of idiotic question is that?"

"Okay," Mac nods, feeling relieved for the heated, positive answer. The darker parts of his mind were making him think that he had somehow forced Jack into the relationship. At least now he knew that wasn't the case. Still, "Do you want to be in a relationship with me? I won't be hurt if you say no. We'll still be friends."

"That's an even dumber question than the last one," Jack growls. "I love you, Mac. Didn't I tell you that in the hospital? I'd die right here, right now for you."

Mac blushes, feeling the heat of the words on his very skin. He nods again and clears his throat for the next question, "Do you like kissing?"

Jack blushes, it reaches all the way down his muscular neck and he nods three times in a row like an ashamed child instead of answering.

This wasn't the Jack that Mac knew. Jack was an easy going person. He didn't flaunt his relationships in people's faces, but he wasn't ashamed of the ones he had. Why was this one making him act so differently?

"Do you like kissing me?"

Jack's head snaps up, his eyes watery as he gives his boyfriend a pained smile.

"More than you know."

"Then why did you stop me the other night at your place?" Mac pushes, taking one step. When Jack takes a step back, Mac stops. Something was very, very wrong. "Jack, please," he pleads, remaining in his spot even though he wants to throw himself at the other man like a romance novel character. "I love you. I want to know what's wrong so that I can fix it."

"You can't fix it, Mac," Jack says, mouth pinching as he tries to hold back tears. Mac's heart hurts to see him look like that. "The other night, things were going so well. I could feel what you wanted. I knew what might happen next and I...I panicked okay?"

Jack runs both hands over his short cropped hair as he slowly turns around in a circle. He stares at Mac with so much pain the other man can no longer find the strength to think about moving. 

"You deserve someone better than me, Mac," Jack says with a broken voice. He takes a deep breath but it hitches in the end. "You need someone younger. Better looking. Someone who could...Who can keep up with you. Not an old, useless-" Jack shakes his head, furiously wiping at his eyes to try to stop the tears that were already falling. 

Jack clears his throat, "I love you, Mac. Enough to know I don't deserve you."

"Is that all?" Mac smiles. Jack's face stutters into confusion. The blonde finally allows himself to take the few small steps to wrap his arms around his lover. "I thought I did something to upset you, Jack! I was so worried I was causing you pain! For a moment, I thought...I thought I was pressuring you to do things you weren't ready to do yet."

Jack stiffly wraps his arms around the younger man, only to push him away from himself and out of his arms.

"Weren't you listening to a thing I said?" the brunette says, voice feather soft.

"I heard the self-doubt, yeah," Mac keeps on smiling, far too happy with a problem he might be able to fix to stop. "But you forgot one important thing, Jack."

"What's that?" he whispers.

"I get to chose who I think I deserve. I pick who I want to be with. I picked you, so there."

"But, Mac, I'm-"

"You're far from ugly, Jack," Mac starts to pinpoint the man's insecurities. "You keep up with me all the time. Sometimes outrunning me. You're not old, you're the perfect age. In fact, all of you is perfect. From the laugh lines on your face to the scars on your back."

Mac leans forwards to plant a gentle kiss to Jack's lips. Nothing too invasive, just a promise, a reminder, a show of how he felt.

"You are perfect in all the ways that matter," Mac repeats sincerely as he stares into the other man's watery eyes. "You're brave, strong, and you care about everyone. Even if they don't deserve it. I wouldn't change a thing about you and I definitely don't want to find someone else. No one can compare to perfection."

More tears slide down Jack's face, but this time, he's smiling.

"You're a regular romantic," Jack says, voice husky from all the emotions boiling inside him. 

"Gotta keep up with all your cutesy stuff some how."

"I am not cutesy." 

Jack leans down to capture Mac's lips. Mac tilts his head slightly to the side to deepen the kiss, opening his mouth just enough to allow Jack access if he chose to go that far. His lover doesn't disappoint, the tongue darts into Mac's mouth and he grins as the muscles fight for dominance as Jack holds Mac tight against his front and Mac holds on to the back of his lover's neck as if he'd die if he ever let go.

They part after a few minutes, lips red and swollen and chests moving in tandem as their lungs replenished their air supply.

"I'm not...I still," Jack's face might be permanently red but Mac doesn't mind. The color suites him.

"We'll take it slow," Mac promises, tracing the shape of a paperclip on the back of his lover's neck. "We won't do anything you're uncomfortable with. We need to have open communication from now on, though, Jack. No more closing me out. Deal?"

"Okay," Jack nods. He looks worriedly at Mac and the blonde's heartrate increases, wondering what his lover will say next, "You'll do the same to me. Right, Mac? If I do something, or say something-anything that upsets you, you'll tell me?"

"I doubt you could but yes," Mac nods. "That how relationships work."

"Uhm, then," Jack clears his throat. "This is probably the best time to tell you that..." He clears his throat again. "You're the first...The first guy I've...Well, I've never been much interested in men until...Until I met you."

"I'm honored," Mac says with all honesty. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, Jack. I love you."

"I love you too, Mac," Jack lets out a tired breath as he lowers his head. "Thank you."

Mac kisses his lover's forehead.

"You're more than welcome."

 

-*- -*- -*-

**Author's Note:**

> I am legally inclined to state I own nothing.


End file.
